Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8954455" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 133: December 1998part 4/5To Serve Man: Considerably less whimsical in most campaigns is the possibility of using cannibalism as a plot hook. While you probably could make it work in an Orcs of Thar one, the jokes can turn disturbing pretty quickly. So it's a mild relief that this is focussing on Call of Cthulhu, where turning to cannibalism is as sensible a modus operandi as any for insane cultists, and does actually have decent odds of granting you powers with the right rituals rather than just giving you horrible prion diseases. The prospect of winding up on the menu can give your struggles against them an extra piquancy. Even more of a driver for dramatic roleplaying is the temptation to engage in cannibalism yourself, be it for power (I can save many lives with those powers for the sacrifice of one!) or merely because you're trapped somewhere with food running out and eating some of the team will let the others carry on a little longer. Probably best to save that kind of thing for one-shot tournaments, as that'd be a pretty depressing way to conclude a campaign. I guess in a WoD one that kind of unsatisfying end would be a perfect reason to keep on playing the character as a Wraith, probably with the person who ate them as a Fetter. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> So this shows there's plenty of more serious plot ideas around the topic of eating. I guess it can get pretty messy laughing with your mouth full, so you might want to avoid that.Poison!: You don't really want to eat poison, but might well wind up doing so during an adventure so this is still in theme. It's time for another of those reminders that poison has become progressively less deadly over the years, going from save or die being the default to all kinds of lesser amounts of damage and incapacitation, in many case happening in progressive increments, which is at least more realistic. They're particularly keen on encouraging this if PC's ever get over their moral squeamishness and start using poison themselves. Not only are there dangers in handling, but many organic poisons lose their potency rapidly once removed from the sac. Don't be surprised if you suddenly find yourself up against lots of undead, constructs and other things that are completely immune, putting all that hard work collecting them to waste. There are a few useful ideas in here, but since they're discouraging you from using them even as they suggest them it's a pretty mixed message. The Code of Conduct may be gone, but this arbitrary line in the sand remains just as strong in people's minds. The Gentle art of Foodomancy: Back to the lighthearted stuff that you could theoretically use in game, but probably won't, with another couple of recipes for cooking monsters you killed (this time a little harder to substitute real world ingredients for) and a new nonweapon proficiency for becoming not just a cook, but an advanced cook with the ability to invent their own dishes. In fact, it takes a full 5 slots to reach the top tier of foodomancy, become able to create new dishes and teach them to others without penalty. This all feels like a throwback to the kind of 1e writing where everything was run by guilds and you couldn't gain levels without paying a ton of money to the proper authorities because learning things on your own rather than having them handed down through an unbroken line descended from the gods? Not in our universe! Can't be having with that technological innovation nonsense. Not one I'd use unless I was going for that very specific playing 1e by the RAW with Unearthed Arcana flavour.the '99 Decathlon: The themed section finally finishes, so it's time to look forward to next year. Despite everything that's happened, they're still going to do their best to make the yearly decathlons a proper thing, not just something maybe a dozen of the most hardcore clubs in the world participate in. To make it seem less daunting, they're setting clear staged deadlines for each of the individual competitions, so you know what's top priority each month. Hopefully at least a few people will be able to plan out their year well enough to do all of them with time to spare instead of leaving it to the night before, rushing it and turning in subpar material like they're still in school. They're also trying to be more clear about exactly how many points you earn from each event, so if you don't have time to do everything, aim for the ones that have higher top scores and you might still have a shot. Participation always gets you at least 1 point, so if you enter a full set of 10 events you'll automatically get at least a minor prize and they only go up from there. I guess we'll find out at some point if all this brings the number of contenders up but I'm not going to hold my breath.</blockquote>

Verification